Two township supervisor candidates in Bay County removed from ballot for improper filing

Colleen Harrison | MLive.com Tom Meier holds the receipt to the ballot he was sent showing him as a candidate for Beaver Township Supervisor.Colleen Harrison | MLive.com

BAY CITY, MI — When Tom Meier received a sample ballot in the mail on Monday, Sept. 17, he never thought his name would disappear by the end of the week.

Meier is one of two township candidates in Bay County who have been removed from ballots due to incorrect filing procedures.

Both Meier, running as an independent for Beaver Township supervisor, and Francis Christensen, an independent for Monitor Township supervisor, filed with Bay County Clerk Cindy Luczak rather than their township clerks.

The issue came to light last week when Beaver Township Clerk Stacey Mieske received sample ballots for verification.

"I received the proof before the ballots went to print," Mieske said. "I noticed there was a name on the ballot that I did not have listed as filing at the township."

Michigan Election Law section 168.349 describes the correct procedure for candidates filing for township offices during the primary election. Section 168.590clays out that qualifying petitions — which are those filed by independents — must be filed at the same office where partisan township candidates go — the township office.

"The official process calls for filing to be completed with the township clerk," said Tom Luitje, election specialist with the Michigan Department of State Bureau of Elections. "There is no basis in law for a county clerk to accept those filings."

Mieske said that she approached Luczak with her concerns after reviewing the ballot. She said politics did not play into her decision to contact the county.

"It's my job to proof the ballots," Mieske said. "It isn't the responsibility of the supervisor or the board."

After hearing about Mieske's action, Monitor Township Clerk Cindy Kowalski said she notified Luczak that Christensen had failed to file at the township office.

The county corporation counsel researched the issue and discovered a case law that influenced their recommendation that Luczak remove their names.

Luczak said she contacted Meier and Christensen by phone late last week to let them know their names would be removed from the ballot. Notification also was mailed to each candidate, she said.

Fred Woodhams, spokesman for the Department of State, said that the Bureau of Elections office reviewed the case in Bay County and supports the decision to have the two candidates' names removed.

Luczak said that because the ballots have not yet been printed, there is no financial impact as a result of removing the names.

As a first-time candidate, Meier said that he contacted Luczak after the May primary deadline passed and learned what was required to file as an independent.

"Cindy sent me all the required paperwork, I talked to her on the phone, I did as instructed and I returned it to her office," Meier said. "I gave it to her deputy clerk who stamped everything, and then I didn't hear anything else until Thursday."

On Thursday afternoon, the phone rang.

Colleen Harrison | MLive.com Tom Meier holds the receipt to the proof ballot he filed to run for Beaver Township Supervisor

"I got a call from Cindy (Luczak) and she told me I wouldn’t be on the ballot because I couldn’t file the paperwork with the county," Meier said. "I said, 'Cindy, that’s not what you told me.' "

Luczak said this is the first time she recalls filing locations being an issue. She said in past election years, the county office accepted filings as a courtesy from candidates who did not first file with their township.

Election law is clear, however, that all candidates running for a township position, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof, are required to file with their township clerk.

Luczak said that candidates have previously voiced difficulties with filing in some of Bay County's smaller municipalities, where township offices have limited hours, clerks hold daytime jobs or the offices are closed certain days of the week.

"I hate to dump this on Cindy (Luczak), but she is the one who screwed up — she dropped the ball," Meier said. "I'm a disenfranchised candidate."

Luczak declined to respond to Meier's claim.

In the letter mailed to Meier and Christensen, Bay County Corporation Counsel Martha P. Fitzhugh explains some of the confusion surrounding the current situation:

"As I understand the circumstances, predecessors of the current Bay County Clerk traditionally accepted qualifying petitions for township offices," Fitzhugh wrote. "Clerk Luczak was continuing a practice considered helpful over many years ..."

The letter states the matter was reviewed Sept. 19.

"My review of the law and the Clerk's consultation with the Michigan Bureau of Elections have resulted in the county's finding that the past practice of Bay County does not conform with current election law."

Proper protocol also requires township clerks to submit the filings from local candidates to the County Clerk's Office within four days of the filing deadline. The last day to file without a party affiliation was July 19.

Meier said he has decided to run as a write-in candidate, despite the odds. He is challenging incumbent Supervisor Ronald Robbins.

"It's an uphill battle as a write-in," Meier said. "It's going to be tough. It's hard to get 51 percent of voters to write your name and fill in the circle."

The process to cast a vote for a write-in has two parts: the voter must write the inidividual's name on the ballot and fill in the corresponding oval marking. The name of the write-in candidate does not have to be spelled correctly, but votes with nicknames that are not apparent derivatives of the write-in's legal name will not be counted.

Candidates have until 4 p.m. Oct. 26 — two weeks before the general election — to file as a write-in for the Nov. 6 race. Write-ins must file in their township office if they are township candidates.

The Times was unable to reach Christensen for comment. Kowalski, Monitor Township clerk, said Christensen has not filed as a write-in.

Gary Brandt, incumbent supervisor in Monitor Township, said that this is the first time he recalls candidates being removed from the ballot.

"This is something new, period," Brandt said. "I was always told that to run for township office you had to file with the township clerk."